Jeffrey Osborne – Stay with Me Tonight (1983)

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Stay with Me Tonight is the second studio album by American singer Jeffrey Osborne.
It was released on July 22, 1983, on A&M Records. Osborne reteamed with frequent collaborator George Duke to work on the album which reached #25 on the US Billboard 200 and #3 on the R&B chart.

At this point, some fans might have been hoping that Jeffrey Osborne would return to his former group, L.T.D.. If Jeffrey Osborne cast doubt on that proposition, Stay With Me Tonight made it so that even L.T.D. fanatics didn’t want to see it happen.
Unlike many R&B acts who either went solo and/or did pop-ish work, Osborne earned raves for retaining his quirky nature with his vocal inflections and ticks intact.
The smooth, first single, “Don’t You Get So Mad,” picks up where Jeffrey Osborne and “I Really Don’t Need No Light” left off.
Osborne’s best-sung up-tempo George Duke production, “Stay With Me Tonight,” clicks from the synths and the Simmons drums to the off-center backing vocals.
The best ballad from the album is also one of Osborne’s strongest songs. With a strong string arrangement from George DelBarrio, “I’ll Make Believe” has Osborne all but living the poignant lyrics and giving them more meaning by accenting the right words and phrases.
“We’re Going All the Way” is nearly as good. Tracks like “Other Side of the Coin,” “When Are You Comin’ Back,” and “Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right” can’t help but come off as filler given the excellent songs surrounding them.
The title track, “Stay with Me Tonight”, was a #4 R&B hit in 1983, while three other singles, “Don’t You Get So Mad”, “We’re Going All the Way”, and “Plane Love”, entered the top twenty.

 

Track listing

1. “Don’t You Get So Mad” (Don Freeman, Jeffrey Osborne, Michael Sembello) – 3:48
2. “We’re Going All the Way” (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) – 4:15
3. “Stay with Me Tonight” (Raymond Jones) – 4:55
4. “Greatest Love Affair” (Jeffrey Osborne, Sam Dees) – 5:01
5. “Plane Love” (David "Hawk" Wolinski) – 4:00
6. “Other Side of the Coin” (Carlos Vega, Don Freeman, Jeffrey Osborne) – 3:38
7. “I’ll Make Believe” (Geoffrey Leib, Jeffrey Osborne) – 5:04
8. “When Are You Comin’ Back?” (Don Freeman, Jeffrey Osborne, Johnny McGhee) – 4:01
9. “Forever Mine” (George Duke, Jeffrey Osborne, Leon Ware) – 5:14
10. “Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right” (Geoffrey Leib, Jeffrey Osborne) – 4:39

All tracks produced by George Duke.

 

Performers and Musicians

• Jeffrey Osborne – lead and backing vocals, rhythm arrangements, horn arrangements (1, 8), synthesizers (1), handclaps (3), electronic drums (9)
• George Duke – rhythm arrangements, horn arrangements (1, 8), E-mu Emulator (1), Prophet-5 (1, 2, 5, 9, 10), acoustic piano (2, 4, 7), electric piano (2, 7, 9), clavinet (6), Moog bass (9), electronic drums (9)
• Don Freeman – acoustic piano (1), electric piano (1), synthesizers (6, 8)
• Raymond Jones – electric piano (3), synthesizers (3)
• David “Hawk” Wolinski – synthesizers (5), electronic drums (5)
• Michael Sembello – guitar (1, 2, 4, 5), electric guitar (7)
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar (3, 6)
• Brian May – guitar solo (3, 10)
• Earl Klugh – acoustic guitar (7, 9)
• David Williams – rhythm guitar (10)
• Henry Davis – bass (2)
• Alphonso Johnson – bass (3)
• Abraham Laboriel – bass (4, 7)
• Nathan Watts – bass (6)
• Louis Johnson – bass (10)
• Steve Ferrone – drums (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10), electronic drums (3)
• John Gilston – drum programming (3)
• Leon Ware – electronic drums (9)
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion (1, 3, 6, 8–10)
• Emil Richards – timpani (2)
• Larry Williams – tenor saxophone (1, 6), saxophone (8)
• Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone (1, 6)
• Gary Grant – trumpet (1, 6)
• Jerry Hey – trumpet (1, 6, 8), horn arrangements (2, 4-7, 9, 10)
• George Del Barrio – conductor (1, 4, 7), string arrangements (2)
• Lynn Davis – backing vocals (1, 3)
• Marcy Levy – backing vocals (2, 6, 10)
• Portia Griffin – backing vocals (5, 7)
• Josie James – backing vocals (9)
• Ronn David Jaxson – backing vocals (5)

Production and Technical

• Producer – George Duke
• Production Assistance – Cheryl R. Brown
• Engineer and Remix – Tommy Vicari
• Additional Engineers – Peter Chaiken and Erik Zobler
• Assistant Engineers – Barbara Rooney (Tracks 1, 4, 7, 8 & 10); Matt Forger (Tracks 1, 6 & 10); Steve Schmidt (Tracks 2, 3 & 6); Nick Spigel (Tracks 5, 6 & 9).
• Recorded at The Complex, Lion Share Recording, Westlake Audio, Ocean Way Recording and Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA); Le Gonks West and Soundcastle (Hollywood, CA).
• Mastered by Brian Gardner at Allen Zentz Mastering (Hollywood, CA).
• Art Direction – Chuck Beeson and Lynn Robb
• Design – Lynn Robb
• Photography – Lisa Powers

Notes
Released: July 22, 1983
Recorded: February 1983–May 1983 Studio The Complex, Los Angeles, Lion Share, Los Angeles, Westlake, Los Angeles, Ocean Way, Hollywood, Record Plant, Los Angeles, Le Gonks West, Hollywood, Soundcastle, Hollywood
Genre: R&B, post-disco, soul
Length: 45:17
Producer: George Duke

Label – A&M Records

• Jeffrey Osborne